Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Chapter 101

Liang feng was not the only one who was restless that night.

In various corners of the empire, everwhere was restless. From nobles to commoners watching the mighty fall.

Feng Jiao Xue watched from one of the mountain peaks of the Feng Clan as lights remained brightly lit around the capital. Soldiers, knights and onlookers going around from one prominent household to another.

"Sister, you might get cold." Mo Tianze wrapped a blanket around her shoulder as he sat down next to him, his ears flat in his head as he had been hearing cries all morning.

Feng Jiao Xue looked up and held the blanket wrapped around her, leaning her head on his shoulder. She didn’t remind him that as a cultivator, the cold doesn’t bother her.

Behind them, Mo Tianze’s tail wagged back and forth.

Contrary to the peaceful scene...

"No! Don’t! Daddy! How dare you" The girl tried to ’punch’ the guards that was holding her father while he tried to get her to let go. Afraid that his daughter will end up getting hurt.

"Please, she’s just a little girl" He pleaded.

A girl’s scream cut through the night as soldiers forced their way into a noble estate, their heavy boots tracking mud across polished marble floors. Her father, a once-respected minister, was forced to his knees, his hair disheveled, his fine robes in disarray.

The head officer unrolled the imperial decree.

One of the soldier subtly nodded and tried to carefully pry the girl away.

"By His Majesty’s command, Minister Cao is stripped of his title and rank for crimes against the empire. His properties are seized, his family sentenced to exile..."

The rest of the words were drowned by the wails of servants and concubines.

The guards did not falter.

One by one, the noble houses fell.

Some tried to resist, swords clashing against steel, desperate last stands in the courtyards of once-untouchable families, but they were cut down with ruthless efficiency.

Some tried to beg, throwing themselves at the feet of the officers, pleading for mercy.

None was given.

The imperial decree was final.

That wasn’t the only one.

At the Zhao estate, a nobleman sat frozen in his study as the shouts of his household echoed beyond the walls. He gripped his brush tightly, ink pooling onto the unfinished letter beneath his trembling fingers.

He had known this was coming.

The moment Liang Feng walked out of the royal hall unscathed, it was only a matter of time.

The door slammed open. Guards poured in, blades glinting in the candlelight.

"Lord Zhao," the lead officer intoned. "By decree of His Majesty—"

Lord Zhao closed his eyes. He had been powerful once, feared. His words could sway court decisions, his wealth could make or break lesser men.

Now, his power amounted to nothing.

The guards didn’t wait for his response. Cold metal locked around his wrists, and his unfinished letter, pleading for a pardon that would never come. fell to the floor, ink bleeding into the rug.

Across the city, fire consumed the Liu estate.

Flames licked at wooden beams, smoke curling into the night sky. Soldiers stood at the entrance, their expressions impassive as the house burned.

Somewhere inside, the Liu family still fought, against both the soldiers and the flames.

"You think we’ll let you take us like cattle?" Minister Liu’s son snarled, gripping his sword with bloodied hands. He was breathing hard, his once-pristine robes torn, his face streaked with soot.

The officer before him did not respond.

Instead, the soldiers advanced.

Steel flashed. Blood spattered against the marble steps.

The Liu name would be remembered...but only as a cautionary tale.

At the Chen household, the youngest daughter sobbed into her mother’s robes as their belongings were dragged from their home, loaded onto carts bound for exile.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her small voice trembling.

Her mother did not answer.

Because she did not know.

The officers gave no explanations, no reassurances. Only orders. Only the decree.

As dawn broke over the capital, the city awoke to a new reality.

The empire had shifted.

News traveled fast, and for the second prince, every passing hour brought more dire reports.

"The Liu family has been arrested."

"Minister Cao’s lands are being confiscated."

"The Zhao family has been exiled."

One by one, the pillars of his faction crumbled.

In his private chambers, the second prince paced like a caged beast, his hands clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

"Damn him." His voice was low, seething.

His attendants remained silent, none daring to speak. They had seen their prince angered before, but never like this.

"That bastard used this entire ordeal as an excuse to clean house," the second prince muttered. His eyes burned with rage, but beneath that, fear.

Liang Feng was methodical. Calculated. This wasn’t just retaliation.

It was extermination.

His greatest supporters, gone. His reach within the court, severed.

The noose tightened, and he could feel it.

"Your Highness," one of his servantss finally dared to speak. "If we do not act soon-"

"Do you think I don’t know that?!"

The second prince slammed his fist onto the table, the sharp crack of wood splitting the heavy silence.

Act?

What could he do?

His allies were vanishing. His father’s patience was at its end.

He was running out of time.

Those who had once stood firmly by his side now shivered as the very air around them twisted under the force of his Qi.

Gone was the cold but pure energy he had once possessed. Before, his presence had been unsettling, an icy pressure that crept under the skin, a quiet menace lurking beneath his carefully composed facade. But now...

Now, the air was thick, suffocating.

Dark, viscous energy bled from his body in slow, sinuous waves, like ink dissolving into water, tendrils creeping into every corner of the room. It clung to the walls, to the floor, to their very skin, as if alive—seeping into the gaps between their bones, curling around their throats like unseen chains.

It was no longer just Qi. It was something else.

Something tainted.

The flickering candlelight dimmed, shadows stretching unnaturally along the walls. The temperature in the room dropped, but it was not the crisp cold of a winter’s breeze, it was damp, stagnant, like the breath of something ancient, something long buried clawing its way to the surface.

The very space around him warped, distorting as if rejecting his presence, as if the world itself could not contain the force that now surged within him.

A deep, guttural hum resonated in the silence, vibrating in the marrow of their bones. It was not a sound, not truly, but a presence.

And it was terrifying.

Even in the Deep within the imperial palace, the second prince’s mother knelt before the emperor.

Her once-elegant hands, accustomed to fine silks and delicacy, now pressed against the cold, unyielding marble floor.

"Your Majesty, please... he is still your son." Her voice trembled, thick with desperation.

The emperor’s expression was unreadable, his eyes shadowed beneath the flickering candlelight.

"He is also a traitor."

The concubine flinched, lowering her head further. "He..he is young. Reckless. But he is not beyond saving, Your Majesty-"

"Beyond saving?"

The emperor’s voice was cold, carrying the weight of a ruler whose patience had worn thin.

"How many chances have We already given him?" His fingers tightened around the armrest of his throne. "How many times have We turned a blind eye? Do you think We are stupid to not see the schemes that b@st@rd have been pulling behin Our back!" The emperor raged.

She swallowed hard. "Please..."

The emperor exhaled slowly, his gaze turning distant. He had tolerated much over the years.

Too much.

"If he values his life" he finally said, "he should pray he does not give me a reason to take it."

Coldly, he looked at the beautiful concubine. "You should be thankful that i am simply banishing that ungrateful, covetous b@st@rd!"

With those words, the conversation was over.

The concubine did not lift her head as the emperor rose and walked away, his footsteps fading into the vast emptiness of the hall.

She remained there, motionless.

For the first time in years, she truly understood...

The man she gave her entire life to, the man she had loved with all her heart, never had them, the mother and son, in his eyes.

Coldly, her teary eyes discreetly glared at the emperor. Her heart her heart freezing over as her hope was doused in ice cold water.

And in the empire, as old foundations crumbled, new forces began to rise.

"So, what now?" Huang Jin De ask as he appeared behind Mo Tianze and Feng Jiao Xue.

"It’s time that I depart this little pond" Feng Jiao Xue repied with resolution as the sun begun to peak.

Mo Tianze looked at her at that and clung to her hand. "Sister..." He pawed at her sleeve.

"I won’t leave you behind." Feng Jiao Xue assured him. "You can stay in the ring with Jin De to train"

Mo Tianze perked up at that.

"Okay." He enthusiastically nodded. "Sister, I’ll protect you. I promise"